Beating water loss with intelligent water meters

One of the world’s leading suppliers of intelligent metering solutions, Danish Kamstrup, is supplying intelligent water meters in Chile that are going to improve the efficiency of one of the country’s largest water utilities, Essbio. Having accurate metering capabilities ensures that all supplied water will be precisely measured. Exact knowledge about water consumption is one of the most important steps in the fight against water loss.

At present, a considerable amount of the water running through Essbio’s network is going undetected because the utility’s current meters cannot measure water used at low flow rates. 

Kamstrup’s intelligent water meters, which have been approved by Chile’s metering and telecommunication standards organisations - DICTUC and SUBTEL, can measure extremely low flow rates. This ensures that the consumption of every single litre of water is accurately registered and billed. With their pinpoint accuracy, the meters can also detect leaks, bursts, and tampering, ensuring water loss is discovered quickly.

The installation is part of a pilot project that will provide Essbio with greater reliability over the quality of its supply and deeper insight into how it wants to build its intelligent water network. 

“With the installation of the new intelligent meters, our company has started an innovation process in commercial services, with a short-term objective of improving the quality and precision in metering as well as a longer-term one where we are looking for efficiency opportunities by using data integration and automation”, says Víctor Hugo Bustamante, ESSBIO’s Comercial Manager. 

“Essbio will also greatly improve its operational efficiency by reading their

meters with Kamstrup’s READy drive-by solution. 

This easy-to-use solution will provide highly accurate readings while reducing the amount of time its employees spend reading meters, all without having to disturb customers,” comments Ramón López Farías, Kamstrup’s Sales Manager for Latin America.

The meter used in this project is the highly accurate flowIQ® 2102 ultrasonic water meter which can measure water flows as low as 2 litres per hour. More importantly, it can maintain this low start flow and the precision on it throughout the entirety of its lifetime, which can extend up to 16 years due to the impressive longevity of the battery life.

“With the installation of the new intelligent meters, our company has started an innovation process in commercial services, with a short-term objective of improving the quality and precision in metering as well as a longer-term one where we are looking for efficiency opportunities by using data integration and automation”

- Víctor Hugo Bustamante, ESSBIO’s Comercial Manager.

With no moving parts, the flowIQ® 2102 is less subject to wear and tear and impurities in drinking water. The minimal maintenance and operating costs required ensures a cost-effective and long-term solution.

Around 6.000 flowIQ® 2102 water meters have been installed in residential properties. The meters have been installed in diverse urban and rural areas in many cities across three regions in Chile (regions VI, VII and VIII).

For further information, please contact:

Ramón López Farías, Sales Manager Iberia & Latin America
T: +34 914 359 034